It’s a topic for most men which arouses a great deal of ‘cross-leggedness’, any amount of ‘ouch’ related to man’s true best friend is a serious concern. A subject matter that the majority of men know actually very little about, but one that has us men folk asking very basic, yet essential questions: Can I continue to have sex? Where does the semen actually go? Is it a form of castration? More importantly, is it still possible for me to ejaculate?
Quite simply a vasectomy is a very, if not the most, effective method of permanent birth control, when couples are absolutely certain that they no longer wish to have any more children, satisfied that the family unit is complete. It is considered to be even more effective than tubal ligation in females. As the procedure is ‘often’ irreversible it should be carefully considered before deciding to go ahead with the operation.
A vasectomy is a minor operation that usually takes between 15-20 minutes. The entire experience will last a few hours, including preparation time, rest and observation post-operation. In fact in most cases, you will be able to return home or to work within an hour or so of your procedure. It is a quick and usually painless surgical procedure, which is carried out under local anaesthetic. It renders a man sterile through the severing or tying off of certain important tubes - a doctor cuts two tubes, called the vas deferens that carry sperm from the testes to the pouch in the scrotum that holds the semen prior to ejaculation. In layman’s terms, it blocks the only outlets sperm have to leave the body.
The semen you ejaculate will not contain sperm, and your body continues to produce sperm after the procedure, but the testicles naturally reabsorb the unneeded sperm. It is only after several months and two negative semen tests that it is considered effective. If this is clear, then sex can take place without additional precautions. For a while after the tubes are cut however, semen can still contain sperm that were left in the tubes. So it is therefore important to use another form of birth control until tests show that there are no sperm in the semen. With a success rate higher than 99 percent, vasectomies are practically foolproof. About 1 in 1000 operations are not successful, and semen tests show sperm still present after the operation. Even after a successful operation about 1 in 2000 men who have had a vasectomy will become fertile again at some point in the future.
Some doctors are now even performing a simpler operation known as the "no-scalpel" vasectomy. In this procedure, the doctor gives you a local anaesthetic and then uses his fingers to manoeuvre the vas deferens tubes close to the surface of the skin. Once they're in position, he uses a special instrument to make one tiny hole in the skin. When he sees the tubes through that hole, he cuts them and ties the ends off. You don't need stitches as the small hole will heal on its own.
It takes a week or two to heal ‘completely’ after the surgery. The risk of side effects or complications after a vasectomy is low and these are usually minor, the scrotum may look and feel swollen, bruised and naturally tender at first. Occasionally slight bruising or bleeding from the wound may occur for a few days. Some men can experience strong pain for a couple of days, but the doctor will prescribe you pain relief to help you deal with it. Plan to take it easy for a few days, with lifting heavy objects out of the question. Use an ice pack on your scrotum to help reduce the swelling. There is currently no evidence that the procedure increases your chances of getting prostate cancer, as some people once thought, however, this matter is the subject of ongoing research.
Men can have sex again within a few days of a vasectomy - really when you feel comfortable. There is no change in your sex drive or sexual performance; and a vasectomy shouldn’t affect your ability to have erections, climaxes and the amount of ejaculate remains the same. Furthermore a vasectomy does not cause impotence. You’ll never notice the difference, as one medical practitioner recently put it – the river still flows without the fish in it!
Although men considering vasectomies should not think of them as reversible, and most men and their partners are satisfied with the operation, sometimes, a man who has had a vasectomy will change his mind and decide he wants to have a child. This procedure is a lot more difficult to reverse than to initiate, and reversal is not always successful. The amount of time that has passed since the surgery affects a man's chances of having it reversed successfully. If it has been less than three years, the chance is about 75% that he will be able to get his partner pregnant. If it has been more than 15 years, the chance is only 30%. If you really do want a back-up plan, talk to your doctor about putting some of your sperm in a sperm bank.
A vasectomy is an extremely effective for preventing pregnancy, but it doesn't offer protection against sexually transmitted diseases. It's therefore important that vasectomised men continue to protect themselves if there's a risk of sexually transmitted infection.
If you and your partner are both in ‘complete’ agreement that a vasectomy is the right form of birth control for you, then you should seek further information from your GP or family planning clinic.
